Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Says He Regrets Endorsing Joe Biden in 2020
"Am I happy with the state of America right now? That answer is no."
Wrestling legend and actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is weighing in on the upcoming presidential election... sort of.
During a recent interview with Fox News, the WWE superstar said that he regrets endorsing then-presidential candidate Joe Biden in the 2020 election, and will not be making a public endorsement of any candidate in the upcoming 2024 presidential race.
"The endorsement that I made years ago with Biden was one I thought was the best decision for me at the time. Am I going to do that again this year? That answer is no," Johnson, who identifies politically as an Independent, said. "I’m not going to do that. Because what I realized.. what that caused back then was something that tears me up in my guts, back then and now, which is division. And that got me."
The actor and businessman went on to lament the woes of so-called "woke" and "cancel" culture, saying that "to be real and to be direct and to be open and to be transparent... that's important to me."
"In today's easy cancel culture world and cancel culture, woke culture, this culture, that culture division, etc., that really bugs me," he continued.
In 2020, The Rock made his first public endorsement of any presidential and vice presidential candidate in his storied career during a Zoom discussion with now-President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
"So I figured, let’s kick this conversation off this way by me officially publicly endorsing you both to become president and vice president of our great country," he said to the candidates at the time.
"That’s fantastic, thank you," Harris responded.
"It means a great deal, for real," Biden addd.
"You guys are both obviously experienced to lead, you’ve done great things," Johnson continued. "Joe, you’ve had such an incredible career. You’ve led, in my opinion, with great compassion and heart and drive... but also soul."
In the same Fox News interview, Johnson said that "you either succumb and be what you think other people want you to be, or you go: 'No, that's not who I am. I'm going to be myself and I'm going to be real.'"
"If you ask me something, a real answer is important, and the truthful answer is important, and that may get people upset and may p*** people off," he continued. "And that's OK. But it took me some time to recognize that.
"Am I happy with the state of America right now? Well, that answer's no," he added. "Do I believe we're going to get better? I believe in that. I'm an optimistic guy, and I believe we can get better."
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Danielle Campoamor is Marie Claire's weekend editor covering all things news, celebrity, politics, culture, live events, and more. In addition, she is an award-winning freelance writer and former NBC journalist with over a decade of digital media experience covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mortality, gun violence, climate change, politics, celebrity news, culture, online trends, wellness, gender-based violence and other feminist issues. You can find her work in The New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, New York Magazine, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, TODAY, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, Prism, Newsweek, Slate, HuffPost and more. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their two feral sons. When she is not writing, editing or doom scrolling she enjoys reading, cooking, debating current events and politics, traveling to Seattle to see her dear friends and losing Pokémon battles against her ruthless offspring. You can find her on X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and all the places.
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